Organizations often fail to understand the vast range of technologies that are offered as a part of the Microsoft portfolio, many of which they already own. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Project Leadership Associates is a full service provider consulting company which not only deploys the components in the Microsoft platform but also helps organization strategize, plan, manage, execute and implement the appropriate Microsoft technologies to address the business goals and vision as well as support them in the cloud or within their own technology environment in the most cost effective and efficient manner.

PLA has an in-depth experience with Microsoft’s cloud solutions including Office365, E4 and Azure Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service. The company claims to have expertise with on premises solutions such as System Center Suite, Hyper-V Virtualization, Devices, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Security, Windows 8 deployment, Microsoft Data Analytics and application development. PLA conducts a detailed assessment and planning session with the organizations, in order to help them understand the Microsoft technologies and the benefit they offer to the business, understand the business goals and needs and then define a roadmap that allows customers to comprehend the value of the Microsoft platform technologies, visualize the sequence of positioning to match the business needs as well as the interconnection between the various platforms and how they can be effectively utilized to enhance the overall customer experience. PLA also offers a variety of managed services to support the Microsoft platform for organizations in need of external assistance. “We help organizations understand where they stand relative to Microsoft technologies, as well as show them how they can leverage cloud, mobility, data and application tools to lower costs and transform the business in line with their goals,” says Alan Bratton, CEO, PLA.

We deliver demos on behalf of Microsoft and speak through our real world experience

The company differentiates itself with the breadth of their consulting services and depth of expertise on the Microsoft platform. “Our strength lies in having a multitude of resources who have the desired Microsoft competencies to be subject matter experts on the stack in the Microsoft platform. Many of PLA’s Microsoft architects serve as Virtual Technology Specialists and deliver demos on behalf of Microsoft and also speak through our real world experience,” says Bratton.

PLA is serving the financial, insurance, legal and manufacturing sectors, helping them transform their businesses for more than a decade. For instance, a global quick service restaurant company that moved from legacy IBM Lotus Notes platform to Microsoft Cloud solutions was having difficulties in predicting their roadmap. Taking control of the situation, PLA developed a roadmap to help them prioritize a migration plan that would deliver the highest ROI. The implementation of Microsoft’s Office 365 solutions enhanced their business process and improved collaboration within their business areas. A renowned U.S. law firm, another client of PLA, found that their business was becoming more commoditized, based on changed economic conditions, with their largest costs attributable to people. This progressive firm looked at technology investment as a vehicle to enable increased efficiency, improved collaboration and reduced costs. After much research and discussion with PLA, the law firm embarked on an extensive and comprehensive Microsoft platform strategy, achieving a 12 percent cost reduction in less than 2 years. The firm’s partnership with PLA helped them in migrating an existing non-Microsoft email platform and on premises communications infrastructure to cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 in order to decrease support costs and improve collaboration between lawyers and their clients. Leveraging Microsoft as a strategic platform continues to provide a flexible, standardized and scalable platform for the firm to support its desired growth plans.

PLA aims to grow vigorously in the upcoming years. “We would continue to enhance the capabilities of our consultants and align our organization with the Cloud, Mobility, Business Productivity, Data and Application Development technology direction that Microsoft is pursuing,” asserts Bratton.